For Angels starters, offseason investment paying spring dividends

TEMPE, Ariz. – Long before the Angels arrived in spring training, their pitchers – particularly the starters – got the word to increase the intensity.

Nearly three weeks into camp and one time through the rotation, it looks like a positive change.

“All the guys came in here in great shape,” pitching coach Mike Butcher said after Tuesday’s 7-4 victory over the Texas Rangers. “Instead of using spring training as a time to get ready, they were ready before they came to spring training. They set the tone. They have come in and thrown the ball well the first time around.”

All five projected starters have taken a turn, and they’ve combined to allow five earned runs in 131/3 innings, a 3.38 ERA. It’s obviously a small sample size, but the Angels will take any positive signs they can get after the struggles the pitchers endured over the past few years.

Poor pitching was just one of the reasons the Angels have gone 17-32 over the past two Aprils.

When asked if this new approach to training the pitchers was a reaction to the slow starts, Butcher was emphatic: “Absolutely not. It has nothing to do with it. It’s just going out and getting ready and preparing. That’s all it is. A different mind-set.”

It’s a mind-set that C.J. Wilson likes.

“It sends a good message when you get a phone call in the offseason and they say we are going to expect a little more out of you in spring training,” Wilson said. “The average guy comes in in a little better shape because of that.”

Angels pitchers threw live batting practice again this spring, after taking a year off from the practice. The starters all threw bullpen sessions in which they simulated throwing multiple innings.

When the games began, each got at least into the third inning, and threw around 50 pitches. In the past, starters would go two innings and about 30-40 pitches the first time out.

“We’re just trying to get them into their game,” Butcher said. “That’s all it is. As we get more into spring it gives them a better chance to get deeper and more stretched out.”

Jered Weaver, who started throwing about two weeks earlier than usual, said he appreciates “trying something new,” but he acknowledges he has no idea if it will change the results.

“I don’t think changing the throwing routine or the way you prepare” is the answer, Weaver said. “We won in ’07 and ’08 and ’09 doing the things we’ve done before.

“Everyone wants to know the reason (for the slow starts), but no one knows what the reason is,” he said. “If we knew, we wouldn’t be getting off to slow starts.”

TROUT VS. DARVISH

Texas Rangers ace Yu Darvish threw nothing but fastballs to Mike Trout in their two meetings Tuesday, because Darvish said he will be unveiling a new approach when the season begins.

“I didn’t want to show him anything else,” Darvish told reporters through an interpreter. “My approach towards Trout is going to be a little bit different this year.”

Trout has hit .321 against Darvish, and his four homers against him are the most of anyone in the majors in Darvish’s two seasons.

Trout had a single and a flyout in two trips against Darvish on Tuesday.

NOTES

Rangers manager Ron Washington used a replay challenge on a J.B. Shuck stolen base in the seventh inning. The umpires upheld the decision, taking 90 seconds to make a ruling. …

Infielder Ian Stewart was back in camp Tuesday and said tests showed his nose was not broken after a strange incident Sunday night. Stewart said he went to kiss his 4-year-old daughter, Ellsi, goodnight when she quickly lifted her head and smacked him in the nose. Stewart said he “heard a crunching noise,” and then was bothered with a headache and felt “kind of off.” The Angels sent him to a doctor Monday, but he was told just to take a day off. …

The Angels lost, 3-2, to the Cleveland Indians in a B game Tuesday morning in Goodyear. C.J. Cron drove in both Angels runs with a homer. Michael Morin gave up all three runs, while Mark Sappington (three innings), Michael Roth (three) and 18-year-old Hunter Green (one) did not allow any runs. …

Zach Borenstein, the MVP of the Class-A Cal League last year, injured his calf in the B game. The Angels did not release any further information about the severity. …

The Angels reached agreements with their remaining unsigned 40-man roster players on one-year deals. They did not have to renew any players, as they did last year when they couldn’t reach an agreement with Trout.